Customer Reviews

Shadowfever

5 star:		(457)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(48)
2 star:		(34)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

This book was very hard to review without spoiling anything. I can honestly say it was the most engrossing book I have ever read. From the beginning, until the very last words I was completely sucked in. In fact, I actually cried while reading the very first chapter, it was that emotional in such a short amount of time. All of the pressing issues are solved and the questions are answered. Only one major question remained at the end of the book, but the answer was something Mac decided she didn't really need to know. I don't have a problem with this as a little mystery makes things much more interesting in the end.

Mac is thoroughly tested over and over in this book, but just as she has in the past, she survives, she endures, and somehow comes out the other side stronger. She has grown so much from the girl that stepped off the plane, yet somehow never once lost who she really was at the core, despite being pulled in so many different directions. I understand now why everyone believed she only had a slim chance of choosing the "good" side of the prophecy. The odds against her were almost insurmountable, and a lesser person would have failed where she persevered. I truly admire her, and her willingness to stand up for what she believes in. I don't think a better person could have been picked for the fate of the world to rest on. Oh, and just as a little side note, she does finally kiss a man that she can't breathe without, and finds that breath is of little consequence. As far as who that man is, well you will just have to read Shadowfever yourself to find out. ;)

I'll admit, as much as I wanted this book, I also was a little hesitant to read it. I wasn't sure how just one book could tie up all of the issues and leave me with a sense of happiness and satisfaction. I am very happy to say that I was wrong and that I should never have doubted the author. The book was every bit as good as the predecessors and left me more than satisfied. Many times after reading a final book in a series I will feel almost hollow and just generally disappointed. Not because the book was bad, but because I just didn't feel any satisfaction in the ending or knowing that I was saying goodbye to the characters. With Shadowfever, this just is not the case at all. The ending is everything it should be, leaving me happy and content, an absolutely rare feat in any final book.

I would highly suggest not reading this book if you haven't read the first four. You need that foundation to give this one the justice it deserves. As the Author promised, it is a story about light, not darkness. However, as they say, the night is always darkest before the dawn and that definitely is the case with Shadowfever. Be prepared for one heck of a roller coaster ride full of countless emotions that will leave you reeling, and desperate to know what happens next. If I could rate this higher than a "five," trust me, I would. I hope everyone enjoys Mac's final trials in life, love, and war as much as I did. My hat goes off to the author for this amazing world she created and the awesome cast of characters. Bravo!

I received the book on Saturday, and am currently starting it again for a MUCH SLOWER reread...

Shadowfever does answer a lot of the questions readers have had through out the series. There is only one question that wasn't answered, that sticks out in my mind, but because of the circumstances surrounding the question and answer - and Mac's acceptance of the fact she may never know and no longer NEEDS to - I don't feel I need an answer either. Vague much? Yes, but the Q&A is too spoilery.

And there is one thing I will strongly caution all the reader's against: DO NOT SKIM THE BOOK. DO NOT GO LOOKING FOR ANSWERS AHEAD. If you must, go ahead and read the last page (front and back), you'll get enough of an answer to one question to keep you satisfied not to seek answers to the rest.

The way KMM has written this last book, with each turn of the page - the theories that we've all come up with are constantly challenged and evolving and half the fun is trying to figure it all out before it's finally revealed.

And KMM has written and woven another magical Fever novel. And it does bring up new questions, which will probably be explored in the spin-off series... But the questions that pertain to Mac and Barrons and V'lane? The three main leads in this series? Those are the answers we get.

I thought this book was a bittersweet end to a much loved series. Steamy, erotic, dark, emotional, torturous, gripping, fantastical... A rollercoaster ride. One I'm already looking forward to revisiting after only finishing it three days ago.

Two thumbs way up, KMM!

Before I started this book, there was a big part of me that believed there was no way I could be satisfied when I was done. There were simply too many questions to be answered, too many loose ends to ever tie up in a way that both made sense and appeased my need for a happily ever after. I was wrong.

There is so much packed into these pages that when I think back to the question, "Who is the beast?" it seems like a lifetime ago. It's no wonder you don't get much information from the summary, regarding what this book is about (it mostly recaps the series as a whole.) I find that even trying to talk about it in generalities reveals fantastic developments in the plot. So if you haven't read "Shadowfever" yet, I urge you to stop reading here, with my reassurance that it's a fantastic book that left me wholly satisfied and warm inside.

****EARLY STORY SPOILERS AHEAD****

The first chapter of this book shredded me. When Mac thought she had killed Barrons, I cried for her. I ached. Then I watched her put herself together; to take the hard lessons he taught her and live so that his death was not in vain. This is not the Mac of Darkfever (Fever Series, Book 1). She is powerful, but hollow. She finally gets her showdown with the Lord Master with decidedly anticlimactic results.

Mac seemed to learn so much about herself and her feelings with Barrons' death. It was disappointing to see so much of it go out of the window when they were finally reunited. She was ready to end the world for him, yet suddenly, overhearing a phone call makes her regress utterly? It was one of the few parts of the book that left me frustrated. It was hard to see the roles reverse between Barrons and Mac... to see him so vulnerable... And when she finally looked inside his mind and learned what he was feeling while she was Pri-ya... Sigh.

***SPOILERS OVER***

Without spoiling any more, I can tell you some of the questions that are finally answered: What is Mac? Who killed Alina and why? Who is the Unseelie King? Who is the King's consort? Who is the Dreamy-Eyed Guy? Why has Barrons been pursuing the Sinsar Dubh? Who is Cruce? Who was the dying boy in Barrons' memory? What is under the garage? And perhaps the best question of all... who is the real villain in the story? The answer to that last one blew me away.

Karen Marie Moning has created a tale of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. NO ONE should read this book without reading the other books in the series first. And after reading this fifth installment, I'm sure many fans will go back to the previous books and re-read the stories from a new perspective, knowing truths we never dreamed of when it all began. There are enough threads that I can easily see more books in this Fever world, but I promise there is no cliffhanger here. Just a fantastic ending to a creative and enthralling story.

I'd give it more than 5 stars if I could.

Unlike Faefever and Dreamfever, Shadowfever is a whole lot of introspection and not much action. Let me back up and say that I have been following this series for years and almost attacked the mailman with excitement when he brought the book to me.

There were a few good chapters and some questions were answered. But there was just so much of Mac talking to herself, pages and pages of it. I understand the need to build up the suspense but really it just got old. Also, there was so much buildup about Mac being extraordinary and that she would end up saving them all. Then it turns out someone else steps in at the last minute and saves the day. It was so anticlimactic.

And I felt like Karen stuck in the entire Scotsmen clan just to throw a kink in the puzzle. They did not play any major role aside from being argumentative. There was such detailed descriptions, pages of irrelevant details. I felt the book could have been at least 100-200 pages shorter, with those irrelevant things edited out.

And the ending, the most unsatisfying of all. How could it just end like that? I think Karen is getting ahead of herself. Instead of finishing this story up well, she puts too much energy (and pages) on setting up for the next story. Which is fine if she plans to tie up more loose ends in the following series, but I don't plan to touch anymore of her book series until the entire series is out. Waiting this many years for an ending like this was a major let down.

This is my first review that I have ever written, and that is because I am so epically disappointed in this book, that I had to review about it. I've read many books that I ended up hating, but this one just irks me on a level I can't explain.

*SPOILERS ALERT*
First off, I love to read, but I am not a fan of romance novels. I tend to stay away from them because they seemed clichéd, over used, and un-original. The last series I read that I actually semi-liked was by Laurell K. Hamilton, but as everyone knows, her series turned into porn after the 5th book. When a friend told me about the Fae Fever series, I refused to read them because the story just sounded *so* unoriginal. She asked me to give them a chance, and I was so glad I did.

The author has a fantastic writing style, the characters seemed so real, she had a funny sense of humor, and she did a great job pacing the story. The story sucked me right in from the beginning and I couldn't wait to read more, more, and more. I loved how the author made something so original, so fresh, and so addicting to read. The best thing that I liked was that even though there was romance and sexual tension, she never turned her story into hard core porn, as most romance novels tend to do. And, when Mac finally did have sex, it was with *ONE* person instead of everyone.

When this book came out, I was so excited. I ignored my school work and forced myself to read this book in about 5 hours. When I finished this book, I felt cheated. I couldn't believe that the author of this book had done what I thought she would never do; she rushed to finish the series without properly ending it, leaving questions unanswered, making characters totally change and act like they never would, it became cliched and there was so much sex in this book.

There is hardly any action in this book. It's mostly Mac talking to herself, being depressed, being confused, and being lied to at every turn. She's constantly thinking about sex, almost every situation she's in, she finds some way to think about sex or make it sexual. She becomes so stupid in this book, too. Strong willed, witty and funny Mac is replaced by Mary Sue. She went from being a not-ugly but not-drop-dead-gorgeous-either, to OMG-everyone-wants-me. She went from having morals, to hardly having any. She has only known Jericho for 4 months and yet is willing to do everything for him. Why? Well, who knows, she seems to only love him for the sex, and that's all they have in common. There is literally NOTHING else that they have in common. Their relationship seems so forced and so wrong.

The constant twists and turns was simply too much. Whenever one problem was solved, the author invented new ones and it just got annoying after a while. The ending was so terrible. We have so many unanswered questions; what is Jericho? What happened to Christian and how/if are the going to fix him? What the hell happened to Dani?

The saddest thing of all is what happened to Vlane. Now, I'm not saying he couldn't have been the bad guy. But to make him be so bad and basically say "Yeah I raped you Mac, who gives a s***?" after we've spent 4 books (and most of this one) being so kind to her, doing anything for her, and even starting to have human emotions, is so insulting. I could see him becoming King and trying to get Mac to join him, but to say he was tricking her all along and raping her after all the character development feels like we've been cheated.

Last, this was SUPPOSED to be the last book in the series. Why tell your readers it will be the last when it really isn't? "The end... or is it?" is so unfair when we've been hearing how this was supposed to be the book that gave us closure and answered all our questions. It feels like the author did like Laurell K. Hamilton; her series got popular quickly, she wanted to end it and instead of doing the right thing and take her time, she rushed it and ruined what could have been a great series. The only reason I'm giving this two stars is because she's a great writer and the first 4 books were truly amazing. I had never raved about book so much before this series; I just wish the ending had been everything I hoped for.

I wanted to love this book. In fact I took a vacation day from work so I could purposely stay home and read it. On top of that I ordered this on kindle and did NOT sleep until it downloaded so I could read it for a few hours. I expected it to catch and hold my attention the way the previous books did. I dont know if my expectations were to high but this book left a bland feeling in my mouth. First of all, the book goes through one twist and turn to the next. Instead of getting answers it just gave us more questions! WTH? I had to skip chapters, fast forward to the end, and back again just so I could get some concrete answers to the basic questions we've all been wondering since this series started. Who is Mac? What is Barrons? Will she pick Vlane? Is Barrons dead? SPOILER ALERT: New questions came up instead such as "What is Mac?" Is Alina really her sister?, who is the Unseelie King? etc. OMG a few chapters into the book I was so frustrated I literally had to stop reading it so give myself a break. As much as I love a good plot story I also want a story line that doesnt leave me feeling like I want to throw the book against the wall. I could NOT enjoy the story because of all the annoying "new" questions popping up without answering any of the old ones. Then to make matters worse. There were still unanswered questions AFTER the book ended. WTH?
I think I will attemp to re-read the story a second time and see if maybe now that I know some of the answers I could enjoy the book? I dont know. I was honestly annoyed with all the new ploys thrown. Also I think the author could have done this entire series in 3 books instead of 5. There were too many fillers and probably unnecessary scenes. I would BORROW this book from the library or if you can't wait and get frustated there is a SPOILERS link that will probably help you along.
I think the majority of the reviews on here was due to all the hype and anticipation. I honestly dont feel this was as spectacular as it could have and should have been. Although KMM is a great author there was just something lacking in this last book for the fever series.

This is what I waited for. I am so disappointed in this book I don't even have words. This series could have ended two books ago. I was so excited I could not sleep the night before release. And this is what I get?? If I had not pre-ordered this book, I would have returned it within the seven day period. That is how unsatisfied I am. I am removing it from my kindle and never looking at it again.
What were the Kelters doing in there anyway? They added nothing to the book. And Dani . . . what was the point of her in this book, other to reveal that she was Alina's killer and for there to be no confrontation or resolution. This is how the series started , Mac needed to find her sister's killer. Then she is found and nothing happens. And what was up with I am the concubine, no I'm the king, no I'm the concubine, no I am king. Ahhhh!!!!! Make a decision already. Mac did not grow at all in this book, in fact I think she regressed, and on top of that she became annoying.
I have loved all of KMM books up until now but this one has just left me so disappointed. It's going to take some time for me to recover.

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (Book Five/Finale)

This is the final book in this nearly epic "Fever" series and others have given a synopsis and have done a fine job of it. So what I'm going to do is to just give you my take on it. I just this minute finished it, and perhaps I should let it percolate or even re-read it, but I'm going to go with my gut and tell you what I am thinking right this minute with no time to hem and haw. This may even be more of a rant than a review and for that, I am sorry. I did love this book. But, I had many problems with it and on so many different levels that I don't know where to begin.

I think that as many great authors do, Ms Moning let herself get too caught up in something that didn't necessarily translate well into the pages of this novel. I have a thing about too much angst in what I read for pleasure. I do understand; by reading all the books in this series as well as the lesser Highlander series that gives us the background on the final players in Shadowfever, that the angst was warranted. After all our heroine Mac, has more questions about her life than "Carter has pills" and rightly so. Has anyone ever told her the truth when she asked for it? Was anything ever as they seemed? Is everything an illusion about her life...with what is happening now...what will things will become? Is she even human? Yes most of these questions are answered, but at what price? Throughout this novel, of which at least 100 pages (if not more) could have been edited out and a tighter writing style could have been used, more and more questions are raised and never truly answered in a clearly cut well defined manner. Perhaps I am just too linear in my thinking. What bothered me the most is that Mac would speak to someone and then at least one page of her asking herself questions would follow before the other character would answer. It is a clever ploy for a writer, but for this reader it is an annoying way to read. Too often I found myself skimming what should have been an exciting heart stopping read just to get to the next pertinent piece of the puzzle.

It has been brought up elsewhere that Mac's character had become a bit of a "Mary Sue" and I defended Ms Moning's writing and the character of Mac. We all knew that bigger things were in store for Mac and were prepared for them. I knew from the previous novels that there would be profound changes to Mac. We always knew she had something `extra' going on. However, even I have to admit that it was sometimes just a wee to much over the top in this book. There were so many red herrings and rabbits pulled out of hats that I didn't know if I was reading an Urban Fantasy or a comic book at times.

On the plus side it was nice to know that Barrons was finally, almost, sort of, kind of explained (if you know what I mean) - what he was and how he felt about Mac. Actually many, many things were explained, I just don't know that they were good, solid explanations.

I'm hoping that with a re-read I will be happier with this tome than I am now. The last 10% or so of this book makes up for a lot but throws more Mary Sue-ish behavior into the mix. I would have loved a lot more action and a lot less introspection, inner dialoging and intrusive self-questioning. It pulled me too far out of the fantasy at times. In fact, I found myself on occasion looking for other ways to amuse myself, instead of finding myself engrossed in this novel as I was expecting.

Don't get me wrong---this was not a horrible novel, I just felt it could have been and should have been so much more for a "grand finale" in a series such as this one. Trying to give this book the number of stars is difficult-the writing could have been better, there could have been some more action, but on the other hand, the characters were written to their fullest potential, Mac learned and grew even as she made myriad mistakes. The mystery was very, very mysterious and difficult to decipher and the horror aspect was perfect.

3 1/2 I really wish Amazon would change the rating system to include 1/2 stars!

I finished Shadow fever two days ago and have contemplated the book before giving my review. This book reads like it was intended to be one thing but was changed into something else in order to allow the series to continue.
SOME MILD PLOT SPOILERS HERE

First, I'd like to say that I don't have a problem with the series continuing. Barrons and Mac are two of my favorite characters and I'd like to read more about them. I thought I was going to in this book. But sadly, the Barrons and Mac I loved in the four previous books rarely make appearances here. Instead Mac and Barrons seemed to be swallowed up by ever changing story of the Concubine, Cruce and Unseelie king. I think that more of the Unseelie Kings story should have been spaced throughout the books instead of lumped into the last book.

Much is made of Mac's true identity and she questions it several times in the book. Even at the end of the book she's still not sure and I found myself missing the spunky, loyal-to-her-family-and-roots-inventor-of-the-Mac-halo Mac more and more. She never resurfaces and that's a shame. Barron's is muted as I assume the future installment of this series will focus more on him. So, you never find out what he is.

Barrons and Mac continue to dance around their relationship issues and I found myself frustrated. I expected some honest talk between the two of them in this book. Instead we get cryptic messages from Barrons and Mac hemming and hawing about being truthful to him. The "deal breaker" for me was when Barrons declares himself a bad guy not a hero or an antihero and that Mac needs to accept him as a bad guy. And she does! Without hesitation. Really??? Rainbow Girl? Girl from Ashford? How bout "I accept that you have a long past and that are some terrible things in that past and you've done some terrible things but if you want to be with me you need to accept that I have a code of ethics and morals and that we need to try and live a decent life." Isn't that why he calls her Rainbow Girl? Maybe not romantic enough but it seems to me that Mac sold out in the end and that if Barrons wanted her to accept him as he was he should have returned the favor.

Fiona's fate seems a bit cruel to me and just like Barrons we never find anything more about her. Personally I always felt sorry for her. Obviously she loved Barrons and she was with him for a long time. So what happened?

Mac's jumps to conclusions about Danni and even considers killing her. I don't care about the reason but the Mac in the previous books would not have considered killing a 14 year old girl an option.

Darroc/LM's fate is very anticlimatic. As a the Major bad guy in the first four books I expected more.

I loved the previous books but this one disappointed.

Since the previous hundred or so reviews gave an excellent synopsis of the book, I will simply give a review here. I am a big fan of not only the fever series, but of Mrs. Moning herself. She is an excellent writer, and seemed set and ready to produce what promised to be the ultimate final chapter to what has been a hands-down amazing series. Though after quite a long wait and an incredible amount of tension, Shadow Fever simply did not live up to what I expected it to be.

Many of the most burning questions are indeed answered, yet in ways that are either flimsy and shallow, or confusing and generative of more questions. Almost as if Mrs. Moning created so many questions that she simply couldn't get the answers out fast enough. I was left with a good many unresolved questions and characters after the final chapter ended; in fact, far too many to feel completely satisfied or even at ease with the story. What about Christian? The Seelie Queen? The Seelie court? The other Five members of Barron's crew? Dani?...um, the entire world full of people?! And in the end, the scene was so outrageously domestic after so much darkness in the books that I almost laughed out loud in disbelief. I mean, Barrons grilling steaks while Jane and the Lanes bring wine for a nice dinner party? Come on now. Didn't essentially an Armageddon just happen?

As far as the characters, many of them were just as disjointed as the storyline. There were so many emotional crises from Mac that by the end it simply got a bit wearisome. There are almost entire chapters of her emotional wallowing that seem both superfluous and distracting! To be honest, her character had so many twists and turns that I am actually still mildly confused where she came from and exactly who (she thinks) she is. Barrons loses his intrigue and cool sophistication in place of wild emotion and absolutely unbelievable tenderness. Danni loses her conviction and refreshing grit in place of bratty carelessness and irritating superiority. The normally artful evolution of characters that Moning crafts into her books is lost here; grafted clumsily onto the storylines to the point where it seems superficial. Sadly, the transformations are almost too comical to recount. Other characters pop in and out with poor cohesion to all of this madness, creating a stew too heavily spiced to be quite palatable.

Therefore I must give the book a three. Good, but not at all Mrs. Moning's best.